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Incorporate Mindfulness Into Your Day

  • July 28, 2017

The Huffington Post has provided a list of simple recommendations to add mindfulness into your life. This is useful information in a stressful world. Practicing “mindfulness” means you’re actively paying attention to the moment you’re in right now, which is ideally done regularly throughout your day.

Mindfulness meditation is a more formal practice of mindfulness, in which you consciously zone in on, or focus your attention on, specific thoughts or sensations, then observe them in a nonjudgmental manner. 

This is just one type of meditation; there are many forms available, each with different techniques and purposes. Transcendental meditation, for instance, is one of the most popular forms of meditation, practiced by millions of people around the world. It's simple to perform. You choose a mantra that has meaning for you, sit quietly with your eyes closed, and repeat your mantra for a period of about 20 minutes, twice a day.

At its most basic level, meditation helps you take a deliberate break from the stream of thoughts that are constantly flowing in and out of your mind. Some people use it to promote spiritual growth or find inner peace, while others use it as a powerful relaxation and stress-reduction tool. There are physical benefits to meditating, too, with research showing it may lower blood pressure with just three months of practice, while at the same time decreasing psychological distress and increasing coping ability among young adults.

Energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can be very effective for reducing stress by helping you to actually reprogram your body's reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life.

EFT is not the same thing as mindfulness; it is entirely different and used for different purposes. I regard mindfulness and meditation as tools that are useful for your entire life, like exercise for your mind. Ideally, you should strive to be mindful and use meditation daily. EFT is different in that it works best for targeted stress relief, such as recovering from an emotional trauma or overcoming an addiction. You might only need to use EFT a few times throughout your life, while mindfulness and meditation are life-long endeavors.